


Wings and Fins, Feathers and Scales

by zianourryloves



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Fluff, Homophobia, M/M, Mermaid Harry, Merman Harry, a little bit at the beginning, but i like it anyway so, harpy louis, mermaid au, this didn't really end up like i thought it would
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-07
Updated: 2015-03-07
Packaged: 2018-03-16 06:05:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3477272
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zianourryloves/pseuds/zianourryloves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They said: against each other you should stand. One could fly and the other one, swam. Wings and fins, feathers and scales. Who would’ve guessed that Water would fall for Air.</p>
<p>OR: The one where Harry is a merman and Louis is a harpy and against all odds they get together.</p>
<p>(Based on the <a href="http://pass-the-pencil.tumblr.com/post/112261509617/pass-the-pencil-they-said-against-each-other-you">drawings</a> by pass-the-pencil on tumblr)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Wings and Fins, Feathers and Scales

**Author's Note:**

> While you're reading you should check out the drawings made by pass-the-pencil on tumblr (link in description), they were the inspiration for this and they'll really help you visualize the story. xx

It started when Louis was banished to this hell forsaken island. It wasn't too bad at first, honestly. He liked being alone. Perhaps not for "all of forever" but, well, he supposed that's what he got for being what he was. He couldn't help that he was a male harpy who also happened to like other males (not harpies though, seeing as he was the only male one of those in a few hundred years, at least).

So for a while Louis enjoyed his alone-ness. He didn't usually get any, his sisters and mother and just about everyone else made sure of that. After a while, Louis became incredibly bored. He had a routine - Louis hated routines - he would wake up from his nest, a nice little thing built atop the tallest tree on the island. Then he'd fly to the waterfall, the one that flowed off the mountain so he could easily fly under it a few times and call it a shower. After that, he would usually find some sort of food. Since the island had no human inhabitants, and therefore no one Louis could steal food from, he was forced to fend for himself.

The first day it happened, Louis was craving fish.

The day before, he had found a small bay at the southern end of the island that he now called home. He decided the bay would be his first hunting spot. Unfortunately, Louis had not quite gotten the knack for fishing, or any kind of hunting, if he's being honest. So he failed miserably for nearly an hour and a half. He had eventually trapped a small fish in a tidal pool when he heard a small giggle, followed by a smacking sound, and then a splash.

Louis whipped his body around in an attempt to find the source of the sound. Instead, what he found was a bright, sparkling, completely calm body of water. Grumbling about being alone too long, he turned around in a final try at capturing breakfast. Louis was not so happy when he saw that the small tidal pool had been washed away, along with his fish.

Trying - and failing - to bottle his anger, he flew straight up into the air. When he reached the point in the air where he knew he couldn't go any higher, he let himself float down through the atmosphere, an exercise that he had learned many years ago that always seemed to calm him. After a few minutes, he landed daintily on a branch that was growing out of a large, fortunately stable, pile of sand and other assorted beach soils.

It was after a few moments of staring angrily at the spot where his tidal pool, and breakfast, had been that Louis noticed a fish - he's pretty sure it was the same one he had been trying to catch - sitting in a tuft of grass not too far away. Louis was shocked. Had it been there the entire time?

Louis stared at the fish like it was the most beautiful and most puzzling thing he had ever seen. It wasn't until he heard a giggle, the same giggle as before, that he realized he had been ogling at the dead animal, instead of eating it. He flew at it, literally. It was only after having finished nearly half of the fish that Louis remembered the giggle.

He turned slowly to face the bay. Seeing nothing, again he might add, he silently flew back to the branch.

Continuing to eat the mysteriously appearing fish, he cautiously watched the water, willing it to reveal its secrets.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, it depends on how you look at it, the water did not reveal itself that day. Or the next. Or the next. Or the next.

Soon enough flying to the bay and sitting atop the branch became part of Louis' routine. He showered, then flew as fast as he could to his secluded spot.

Finally, one day, Louis decided that instead of watching from his normal perch on the branch, he would watch stealthily from a group of bushes not too far from shore. It only took a few minutes (more like two hours, but really, who's counting) for the mysterious force to show itself. By this time, the water had been feeding Louis a fish a day, at least.

At first all he saw was a flash of tanned skin and olive green scales. Then, a moment later, a mop of curly (really how can hair be sopping wet and curly at the same time?) hair and then a face. A face! The face. His face.

It was the most beautiful face Louis had ever seen in his entire existence.

The face, and the body attached to it, came almost fully out of the water and perched on a rock. Louis noticed the elegant green tail the face had. He marveled at it, he had always been fascinated with the water, and the things that lived in it. As a child he loved to hear stories about the enchanting mermaids and mermen who lived in the depths. Sadly, Louis could never do more than fantasize about the creatures, his wings and talons kept him land- and air-locked.

Louis sighed, watching the beautiful merman reach under the water and pull out a piece of coral that had been carved into a comb. The merman brought the comb to his shoulder-length hair and carefully pulled it through. Again and again. Over and over. Louis was completely fascinated.

When each strand was thoroughly brushed, the merman slid the comb back into the water and flipped around so that he was laying on his stomach, staring curiously at a branch... Louis' branch! The beautiful merman was staring at Louis' branch!

"Why didn't you sit where you normally do today?"

Louis nearly died of fright. It had been nearly three months since he had heard another voice, one that didn't belong to some kind of animal that is.

"Well?" The merman pressed, clearly looking at Louis, although he was completely certain that he was entirely hidden behind the bushes.

Slowly, Louis stood up and flew over to the [branch](http://pass-the-pencil.tumblr.com/post/112261509617/pass-the-pencil-they-said-against-each-other-you) perching carefully on top of it.

"Are you going to answer me or just stare at me like you usually do?" The merman asked.

"I don't usually stare at you," Louis snapped. No, not snapped. He did not just snap at the pretty merman. His life was completely over. Utterly ruined. No point in continuing now.

The merman giggled, bringing Louis out of his internal monologue.

"You think I'm pretty?"

Fuck.

Louis did not just have his _internal_ monologue externally. This could not be happening.

"Anyway, you totally stare at me. Like, all the time," the merman continued.

"I really don't. I just like looking at the water," Louis lied.

"Is that so?"

"No," fuck, why can't he just make the words that he wants to come out of his mouth come out, instead of this useless word vomit? "I just wanted to know how those fish kept appearing out of nowhere."

"That's an easy one, silly. I got them for you," the gorgeous merman laughed.

"Why?" Louis blurted.

"You looked a little emaciated. And as much as I enjoyed watching you try to fish - you really should learn how to do it properly, love - I felt bad for you. And I might have thought you were a little too beautiful to be struggling like that," the merman shrugged, as well as one can shrug while holding oneself up by the elbows.

"You think I'm beautiful?"

The merman blushed. He blushed! Louis made the beautiful merman blush!

"I have to go, I'll see you tomorrow?" The merman's sentence came out rushed.

"Yes! I mean, sure, if you want to."

The merman smiled. He had the most wonderful smile in the world, or at least on the island. He even had dimples!

He slunk back into the water slowly, keeping is eyes on Louis as if he wanted to keep his image imprinted in his mind for the rest of his life.

"Wait!" Louis called, just as the merman's shoulders slipped under. "What's your name?"

"Harry," the smile on the merman's face grew even bigger, if that was even possible. "Yours?"

"Louis."

"I'll see you tomorrow, Louis," and with that, Harry went completely under the waves and swam off to wherever mermen go when they aren't talking to harpies.

It carried on like that for a few months. Louis would go about his routine, meeting Harry at the bay. Harry always had a fresh fish for Louis, and he gladly ate it while sitting on the branch, chatting amiably with the merman.

But one day, when Louis got to the bay, there was no pretty mermen in sight. No fish either, which was odd. More than odd. Strange. Scary, even.

So Louis waited. He sat on his branch for a while, then went and found some fruit to munch on, and then flew back to the branch.

Eventually, he became so bored, and worried, that he flew down to the [rock](http://pass-the-pencil.tumblr.com/post/112254754872/harry-the-merman-likes-louis-the-harpy-just-a) that Harry usually occupied. Instantly, he noticed that there was a small circle of bubbles on the far side of the rock. Curious, Louis crouched down to peer at the offending apparition and was surprised when suddenly there was a pair of lips on his. Shocked, Louis froze.

After what seemed like hours, he regained control of his brain and consequently the rest of his being and jumped back out of Harry's reach. Harry also swam backwards, giggling to himself.

"It's not funny," Louis said, trying to sound angry, and failing miserably. "I was worried something'd happened to you."

"Aww, Lou," Harry drawled, still giggling. "Quit laughing at me!" Flustered, Louis bristled his feathers out and flew up to his branch.

"I'm not laughing at _you_ , Lou," Harry insisted.

Louis just glared at him in response.

"I liked kissing you," Harry continued, when he realized Louis wasn't going to answer him. "I might even like you a tiiiiiny bit." The merman's eyes sparkled with a joke that Louis was obviously not in on. The harpy huffed and leaped off the branch, swiftly flying away from the bay and Harry.

 

* * *

 

Louis spent a week away from the bay. He's not exactly sure what he did in that week, other than gorge himself on fruits and contemplate what Harry had done.

What had he meant by kissing him anyway? Sure, he had called him beautiful once, on the first day they met, but that was ages ago. And he surely hadn't done anything to show he had any interest in him. A harpy and a merman? That's one for the history books. 

Things like that don't just happen you see. Male harpies are only born once every few hundred, sometimes even a thousand, years. Merfolk don't come up from the darkest depths of the ocean that often, either. The thought that they could be together, that Harry could like him, were a million to one. 

For merfolk, liking the same sex is normal, Louis had come to learn through his many conversations with Harry. For harpies, there wasn't really such a thing as a mate, or a life partner as Harry called them, eggs appeared in your nest when you were ready to have one, and raise it on your own. Unless you were male, that is. Males were expected to choose a mate and create a new generation. That's the way harpies evolve, when the need for a new trait arrives, a male is hatched to create it.

It's almost the same for merfolk. Like harpies, they have eggs, although they look a little (a lot) different. When merfolk choose their life partner, they receive an egg and soon after it hatches and a new merman or mermaid is born.

But a harpy with a merman? Impossible. But, at least Louis secretly hoped it wasn't.

Louis had come to terms with his love - perhaps that's too strong of a word - of the merman. And after thinking about it for a week, Louis had come to the conclusion that maybe, just maybe his love could be mutual.

So, with that in mind, he flew to the waterfall that had become his shower. He flew back and forth under it swiftly, as to not get his wings completely wet, because flying with wet wings was too much work for Louis. 

After his shower, he found a small comb-shaped twig and began to brush his hair. Being the messy harpy that he is, Louis hadn't thoroughly brushed his hair since being banished to the island, making the task much harder than it really should have been.

When he was finished, he found a larger twig, really a more accurate description would be a branch, but Louis certainly didn't give a fuck what it was called. His nerves were bigger than they'd ever been. He couldn't believe what he was about to do.

With Harry in mind, Louis flew to the meadow to pick the perfect wildflower to give to him. Louis wasn't very good at keeping track of time, but if he had to guess, he'd say he spent well over an hour searching for the flower. He would find one that was just perfect, then spot another that was even more perfect than the last. This continued in a horrible cycle until finally Louis found it. By that time, his nose was running and his eyes were watering profusely from all the pollen in the air, he was terribly allergic. But as soon as he saw the wildflower, all thoughts of how horrible an idea getting a flower for Harry was were eradicated from his mind. He had finally found it, the most beautiful flower on the entire island. A flower that lived up to Harry's beauty. 

The flower itself was fairly plain. It was a pink daisy, nothing insanely special about it, other than the fact that the species was indigenous only to the island and grew nowhere else. Louis thought that made a lovely point. Harry had told him repeatedly how his beauty was nothing compared to that of the other merfolk in his kingdom. His sister for example was the most beautiful being in existence, according to Harry. (Louis disagreed, he thought that it was impossible to be prettier than Harry, not that he'd told him that, of course). 

But that was the special thing about the flower. It probably thought many of the other flowers were much prettier than it, but in Louis' eyes, it was the most beautiful flower in the world.

So Louis picked it. It seemed almost wrong to pick and inevitably kill the flower, but it's not like Harry could come on land to see it. And Louis' plan wouldn't work if he could, so.

The flower was chosen and picked, his hair was combed, his feathers preened. He was going to do [this](http://pass-the-pencil.tumblr.com/post/112577281122/harpy-louis-gives-merman-harry-a-flower-and-harry%22).

Louis flew to the bay. He completely bypassed the branch and landed nimbly on the rock. With the flower safely tucked behind his back, in between his spine and where his wings rested, Louis took a deep breath in and let out a cough. He hoped the small sound was enough to bring the merman to the surface.

It was, and Harry's head appeared almost instantly. Adding to the adorable expression on his face, the merman had accidentally swam up underneath a lily pad, making the circular leaf become a hat on top of his curly hair. 

Blushing despite his earlier attempts to force himself not to, Louis looked away from the merman and shoved the flower at him, glaring angrily into the distance at his own foolishness for thinking that he would like him back.

As soon as Harry glimpsed the flower, his face shifted from the small pout it had been in to a gigantic smile. He leaped out of the water at Louis. The two flew backwards onto the bank of the bay. Louis was not used to this kind of flying, which was more like falling and not even gracefully. All the same, he was delighted and he was sure it was apparent on his face as they tumbled onto the beach.

About midway through the flight, Harry's lips once again touched Louis'. It was the most welcome, and most perfect thing that could have happened to Louis in that moment.

And when they pulled apart, Louis barely even noticed that he was blushing and that his hair was almost as messy as it had been before the combing. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!! If you want to know what their kids looked like two are like [this](http://pass-the-pencil.tumblr.com/post/112648005822/what-would-half-harpy-and-half-mermaid-babies-look) and one was a complete harpy like Louis


End file.
